The invention relates generally to a portable pouch secured to a gurney for containing a medical monitor. In particular, the invention relates to a flexible container that enables the monitor to interactively operate and provide visual information for medical personnel while being transported.
Following United States Navy efforts to reduce battlefield Killed in Action (KIA) the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) advocates for a strategy to combine technology and doctrine to provide a higher standard level of medical care pushed further forward towards the edge of battle. The “golden hour” is a generally accepted term by emergency medical providers that references the hour (or less) immediately following a traumatic injury to a casualty. Advanced medical care provided by emergency room surgeons within the golden hour greatly reduces mortality.
Recent military doctrine emphasizes a shift away from elaborate and expensive ground-based operations and focusing on sea-based solutions. The Expeditionary Force-21 (EF-21) concept envisions the future force to deploy faster, lighter, and further forward, with a heavy reliance on littoral operations and technology to support the precision fighting of an agile and diverse force. The EF-21 tenets significantly influence medical requirements and capabilities necessary to support the future fight, requiring a smaller medical footprint, landing lighter equipment loads and highly reliant on medical resupply.
Consequently, medical treatment facilities will be required to hold casualties for longer periods of time prior to evacuation. When evacuation is available, the flight times may be longer, potentially requiring medical intervention in flight. This shift negatively affects the likelihood of a casualty reaching definitive care within the golden hour. To combat the effects of the increase in medical evacuation times, advanced medical equipment is being pushed further towards the point of injury (POI), specifically ruggedized patient monitors. The TEMPUS Prom from Remote Diagnostics Technologies LLC in Huntsville, Ala. represents one such example of a portable monitor. See https://az767150.vo.msecnd.net/pdf/RDT_Tempus_Pro_Brochure.pdf.
Ruggedized medical monitors shift many traditional emergency room capabilities closer to the POI, for instance monitoring blood pressure, heartrate and oxygen saturation, and conducting medical exams such as ultrasound. For operation from POI to definitive care in a hospital, medical monitors need to facilitate ancillary equipment, provide extra utility to caregivers, and enable safe deployment during ground/air vehicle based evacuations. To fully support the EF-21 concept, medical monitoring equipment must be easily moved on and off the evacuation vehicle and effectively utilized while during movement, both in-flight and on the ground.